Michael Jackson Album Sales After Death: An In-Depth Look

^^^ Smoothcriminl05 made some posts relating to that a few pages back.
 
His average album sales is around 5 mill. which is totally poor and its clearly shows the pathetic overrated status of Elvis.

Is that in regards to albums after his death or after his peak?

But yea Elvis' average sales are low. But MJ sells on average about 30 million per album.

I was always under the impression that MJ had outsold Elvis. The Beatles we know for a fact have far outsold MJ and Elvis.

In the Beatles v. MJ v. Elvis thread over @ UKMIX, they came to the conclusion that while The Beatles and Elvis have outsold MJ, MJ sells more p/unit (or album) than they do. Even using MJDangerous's figures, MJ sells more p/album than either of the two acts. He basically does a lot more with way less. On the other hand, MJ compilations don't seem to sell as well as the other two (probably since they over-saturated the market at one point, but this might change now that he's passed and as his estate begins to release more albums with new material.
 
Billboard 200
#96 (93) Number Ones
#165 (142) The Essential Michael Jackson
#169 (165) Thriller

Top Catalog Albums
#3 (3) Number Ones
#16 (14) The Essential Michael Jackson
#19 (21) Thriller

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
#37 (38) Michael Jackson's This Is It
 
Michael Jackson Inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame!

Michael Jackson inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010.

mediaManager.jpg

MichaelJacksonintotheMrMrsCorneliusVanderbiltHallofFameattheNationalMuseumofDanceinSaratogaSpringsonSundayAug152010.jpg


Here is a brilliant dance tribute video put together to honour Michael Jackson at the event. One of the finest tributes to MJ so far.,see how people inspired by MJ. Must see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AGRyhws21A

Marlon Jackson speaking at the event;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_uOA_hrN6g
 
In the Beatles v. MJ v. Elvis thread over @ UKMIX, they came to the conclusion that while The Beatles and Elvis have outsold MJ, MJ sells more p/unit (or album) than they do. Even using MJDangerous's figures, MJ sells more p/album than either of the two acts. He basically does a lot more with way less. On the other hand, MJ compilations don't seem to sell as well as the other two (probably since they over-saturated the market at one point, but this might change now that he's passed and as his estate begins to release more albums with new material.

:pleased: I love reading about stuff like this. Thank you for this information. *saves*
 
Michael Jackson Inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame!

We´d rather stay on the topic - Album Sales After Death: An In-Depth Look

(there are two threads about that in two sections - News and Discussion)
 
Last edited:
In the Beatles v. MJ v. Elvis thread over @ UKMIX, they came to the conclusion that while The Beatles and Elvis have outsold MJ, MJ sells more p/unit (or album) than they do. Even using MJDangerous's figures, MJ sells more p/album than either of the two acts. He basically does a lot more with way less. On the other hand, MJ compilations don't seem to sell as well as the other two (probably since they over-saturated the market at one point, but this might change now that he's passed and as his estate begins to release more albums with new material.

At least compilations like Number Ones, Essential MJ have been sold over at least 8 mill.

As for album sales, we have to have a list of MJ - Beatles and Elvis to compare - but it depends only on the official "numbers", not estimations and a fan made album sale list.
 
At least compilations like Number Ones, Essential MJ have been sold over at least 8 mill.

Yeah, now they have. Personally, I would rather his original albums keep selling, because unlike the Beatles and Elvis, MJ doesn't really have that big of a discography, in his solo career w/Epic & Sony, not including what he did with Motown and the Jacksons. The sheer amount of compilations seemed to outweigh his original material at one point. Even HIStory had a GH disc with it. I hope that after This Is It, they hold off on those compilations and won't release another one until some significant time later. That way, hopefully, more of his original albums sell, especially with the new one coming out. This will also create a higher demand with it as seen with The Beatles One. Then again, who knows?

As for album sales, we have to have a list of MJ - Beatles and Elvis to compare - but it depends only on the official "numbers", not estimations and a fan made album sale list.

Unfortunately, that's never going to happen unless we can get some to infiltrate and expose their numbers. So since I have a better chance of tripping over a bag with $2 million in it, I still have to say that MJDangerous has one of the few fan made album sales lists that I can put some type of faith into. He's pretty close and is gives no preference to any act. I just can't believe that he was permabanned from ukmix. =(

I found his estimations for the real sales of Thriller were pretty close to what was quoted here not too long ago.
 
(I dont have the link to the article)

Michael Jackson 2nd after the Beatles; Elvis Presley 3rd that’s reality?

December 18th, 2007 by Daniel

In Sections: Music, News



When it comes to Pop and Rock n Roll, you do not get much bigger than the names of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and The Beatles but few music goers agree on the biggest of them all.



I have heard a few music fans claim that Michael Jackson is second after The Beatles and Elvis Presley would make third. Is this really reality?



One such fan going by the name of “illmatic” makes this claim below in response to “Michael Jackson King Of Pop vs. Elvis Presley King Of Rock” but how true is it.



I can’t believe all the bull that was written in all these comments. I am seriously flabbergasted. Well for one, in response to the person above me, Michael Jackson never whined that he should be called the King of Pop. He never even proclaimed him self as such, it was a title from the fans and his friends.



Elvis fans still think he really sold 1 billion records> If that were true, why isn’t he the number one artist dominate in all the lists? I haven’t seen his name in the Guinness Worlds Records, have you? Thats cause he’s not, sorry bb. Michael is #2 right after the Beatles, Elvis is #3. Let me come out and just bring everyone up to reality — “Before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything” IS BULL. Elvis one of a kind? Perhaps a caricature of many “kinds”. Elvis and the people behind him stole the image, mannerisms, and styles of other artist. Most of Elvis’ music wasn’t even written by him, and the songwriter who did write them died broke.



And that songwriter was Otis Blackwell, one the greatest American songwriters ever wrote Elvis biggest hits (Don’t Be Cruel, All Shook Up, Return to Sender). Not only did he write them - Elvis copied the arrangement, the style, the vocal mannerisms, and claimed he co-wrote the songs along with Blackwell (at least Elvis’ name was on the record as co-writer).



In truth it was Blackwell’s influence that helped put Elvis on the top of the R&B and pop charts (at the same time) yet Elvis never bothered to even meet him. Unfortunately for Blackwell - sold Elvis’ biggest hits for $25 each. He was the ’soul’ of Elvis Presley - and no one ever heard of him, and he died penniless in 2002. Blackwell also wrote “Fever”, “Great Balls of Fire” (Jerry Lee Lewis’ signature tune), “Breathless”, “Let’s Talk About Us” (two more Jerry Lee Lewis hits).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Blackwell



Blackwell (nor his family) ever saw a penny of the publishing royalties that helped build his empire; and that Elvis’ wife Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie Presley are reaping the benefits from to this day. No one would of signed her a record deal if she wasn’t the daughter of The King, nor would her homely looking daughter Riley would become a model if The King wasn’t her grandfather. Luckily for her, she still has a hint of the Elvis resemblance in her face.



Why do you think Colonel Parker (his manager) made sure Elvis’ name was on the records as co-writer? Publishing rights. And publishing rights mean big money $$$. Little Richard was cheated out of a lot of royalties on most of his work. Remember Michael Jackson’s wonderful gesture to Little Richard? He bought the publishing rights to his music and GAVE it to him. It made Little Richard cry tears of joy. That is something to be respected.



Elvis was and is a media creation, and his image and life, has been white washed greatly sense his death. People have been brainwashed, by constant talk of his supposed “greatness”. Today Elvis’ legacy is little more than a pop cultural reference. His face is on mugs, stuffed pigs are made in his image, and various other commercial junk. That is all Elvis deserves, and nothing more. They continually throw him up, in response to the greatness of others, but there is absolutely no comparison. This is not about Elvis, but about a system that attempted to bury the legacy of many artists, and continues, to attempt to pump up something, that never was in the first place.



Michael Jackson was THE innovator by far, and although he was inspired by others (Elvis NOT being one of them, but I’ll get into that later) he didn’t totally take on their image, and make a career off it like Elvis Presley did. So there is no comparison. What did Elvis innovate, other than putting an “acceptable” face on the work of other artists? He was a created talented, a singing puppet, and is severely overrated. He did not invent anything, everything he “did” was already done and better. All of his peers Jackie Wilson, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and so on are vastly superior.



It was never my intention to come here and bash Elvis Presley. But when I read the laughable comments I really feel compelled to give a virtual slap to people who seemingly haven’t had a clue on what they are articulating (or trying to). Elvis Presley was talented in the same way Justin Timberlake is “talented”. Almost like a modern day equivalent, I wonder how Timberlake would of weathered without his black producers and song writers like Pharrell Williams and Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley for example?



1. The majority if not all of Michael Jackson’s classic songs were written, produced and composed by himself. He is not just a “Pop” artist. In fact, that is laughable. In his adolescence, he was on Motown records (with his brothers) singing unmistakable soul/funk music. In his adult solo career, his debut album ‘Off the Wall’ was disco/funk as well. His music did not generally did not be referred to as “Pop” until ‘Thriller’ although he still covers many genres throughout his career. To make the point this Presley sung this and that [style] is ridiculous, as if Jackson did not himself. ‘Dangerous’ for example was a notable New Jack Swing themed album, but with elements of rock (Slash from Guns and Roses working with Jackson on two tracks) as ‘Thriller’. Eddie Van Halen’s famous solo in ‘Beat It’ was composed by Jackson. To turn a blind eye or ignore to all of the versatility Jackson possesses in music is laughable.



2. Michael Jackson was never influenced by Elvis Presley, or had “took” some of his “dance moves” as someone tried their hardest to insinuate. Why not? Because Elvis Presley didn’t have any to speak of. Michael Jackson was influenced by cats like Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., all of Elvis’ peers whom HE copied off of. So if you think ‘even ***** copied some Elvis moves’ I assure you, and I don’t mean to disappoint but, a move was watered down from the Elvis filter that was again, originated from a true trendsetter like Brown. Speaking of the Godfather of Soul, Jackson has spoken of him fondly for decades and Mr. Brown has acknowledged him (and Prince) many a times.



3. Actually, this number isn’t really a point I’m just still laughing at people who think Elvis is original.



4. Michael Jackson has a phenomenal voice, he very underrated as a singer. Unique, rich and lovely when you used to sing live in his prime. He had a voice on him even in his adolescence. What Jackson possesses is a rare talent, and has been exuded since practically his birth. Now, admittedly I skimmed through yet another comment that may have you believe that Michael Jackson of all people relied on stage tricks to impress audiences. LOL! Right. Jackson is typically by himself when solo [or accompanied by his brothers in a group of his siblings] with the band. That is all.



Highly practiced dance moves. If that was said to imply that they were to be regarded as “mechanical” that couldn’t be any more wrong. Jackson has a natural talent for dance (and music in general) as well as his brothers, who self taught the instruments they played. In their Motown audition, the Jackson 5 performed ‘I Got That Feeling’ by James Brown and blew Berry Gordy, Diana Ross and the Motown family away and were signed. If you mean he was highly practiced as in hard working? HELL YES. Far from a negative thing. He has been doing this since he was 5 and hasn’t looked back since.



5. Neither Presley or Jackson had any sense of style. Though both have recognizable, iconic and ’signature’ wardrobe.



6. Elvis obviously held what the ideal handsome Caucasian man of his time generation was considered, as Marilyn Monroe did, blonde, even though she herself was truly your Norma Jean; a cute girl with red-brownish hair. Both had their nose reshaped (in both accounts, unnecessary like all of whom go under the knife) where as Elizabeth Taylor held a more natural beauty, although both women were gorgeous. So while I agree that Elvis was good looking and “sexy” I would not go crazy over him either.



When speaking about sex appeal and attraction regarding Michael Jackson it seems unfathomably, for most people if not all no longer associate those words and attributes with Jackson since the 80s (and slightly in the early 90s). I will disregard the way he looks now, given that he has modified his natural looks and ruined his face. Michael Jackson used to be a gorgeous looking man. He was very slim and soft spoken, which is not looked upon as desirable since they are not typical masculine traits, but thats what many young girls and women found him alluring at the time (watch The Making of Thriller ‘the fans’ segment to see what I’m talking about!). He had caramel brown skin, beautiful brown eyes, a nose that need not been modified, at least not approximately 7 times over, the most beautiful smile (that his sister Janet Jackson too has) and even had a jheri curl that was tolerable.



7. In his prime, during tours like “Destiny” “Triumph” “Victory” “Bad” and “Dangerous” he sang live, his vocals rich and clear, he danced with as much energy as his mentor James Brown, fluidity in his smooths dance steps moves that not Elvis or anyone to this day cannot touch as a performer — and he did this all without sounding off key, a single crack or maybe out of breath by the second verse. I have not seen Elvis live, so I won’t comment by default since that is not fair.



Don’t believe me on Jackson? The greats certainly do.



Fred Astaire and Jackson, 1984





Jackson dedicated his autobiography ‘Moonwalk’ in 1988 to Astaire.





“Oh, God! That boy moves in a very exceptional way. That’s the greatest dancer of the century”.



“I didn’t want to leave this world without knowing who my descendant was. Thank you Michael!”



- Fred Astaire.



Fred Astaire, one of the greatest dancers of all time how much merit and honor. The day after Jackson’s legendary Motown 25 performance when he performed ‘Billie Jean’ for the first time, Astaire phoned him, informed him he had not only taped the show but watched it twice that morning, and he was a HELL of a dancer!



“The only male singer who I’ve seen besides myself and who’s better than me - that is Michael Jackson.”



- Frank Sinatra



Sinatra and Jackson in 1984





Jackson impersonating Sinatra at a very young age, during a skit with Diana Ross in 1969.





Jackson performs ‘Get Happy’ at The Jacksons Variety Show (1977).

watch the video here



The Jackson 5 audition for Motown and perform ‘I Got That Feeling’

watch the video here



And with that, I am finally finished. I hope you learned a few things!
 
Last edited:
FlashBack

aug 14, 1985:
Michael Jackson takes control of the Beatles’ publishing rights

It was during their collaboration on 1983's "Say Say Say" that former Beatle Paul McCartney is said to have advised King of Pop Michael Jackson to invest some of his enormous wealth in music publishing. It was sound financial advice that McCartney may have come to regret giving on this day in 1985, when Michael Jackson purchased the publishing rights to the vast majority of the Beatles' catalog for $47 million, outbidding McCartney himself.

To understand the sound business reasoning behind Jackson's move to take control of the publishing rights to some 251 Beatles' compositions, one must first understand some basic music-industry economics: Every time a copyrighted recording is exploited for commercial purposes—played on the radio, for instance, or used in a movie or television commercial—the party that uses that recording is required to pay a licensing fee. A portion of that fee will be paid out to the record label that issued the recording, and the record label, in turn, will pay a portion of its share to the performer. Separately, a portion of the licensing fee is due to the writer of the song in question. Songwriters—even those who are also performers—tend to enter into agreements with professional music-publishing companies to manage the collection of their songwriting royalties. In a typical arrangement, a publisher might take 50 percent of a songwriter’s royalties in exchange for handling collections and for actively promoting the commercial use of his songs.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the Beatles’ primary songwriters, did something slightly more complicated. The publishing agreement they signed was with a company of which they were also part owners. That company, called Northern Songs, Ltd., was formed in 1964 expressly to generate revenues from the growing catalog of Lennon-McCartney compositions. In this way, every sale or other commercial use of the song "Yesterday" earned Lennon and McCartney a songwriting royalty that they split with Northern Songs. And part of Northern Songs’ share would then come back to Lennon and McCartney as part owners of the company.

In 1969, the British company Associated TeleVision completed a messy and contentious takeover of Northern Songs, which in turn led Lennon and McCartney to pull out of their contract for future compositions and to sell off their own shares in the company. More than 15 years later, in 1985, as ATV prepared to sell its entire publishing catalog, Paul McCartney anticipated purchasing it himself, only to be thwarted by Michael Jackson, who was then at the peak of his financial power.

In the years afterward, that catalog—now estimated to be worth in excess of $1 billion—allowed Jackson to remain solvent by serving as collateral for several enormous personal loans that funded his extravagant lifestyle through years of low earnings and legal difficulties. In 2008, however, Jackson gave up his remaining interest in the catalog to Sony, one of his primary creditors.
 
billboard top 200

MJ number ones album is # 104 AND # 4 ON CATALOG ALBUMD

the essential Michael jACKSON # 171 AND # 22 ON ESSENTIAL

THRILLER # 188
 
Top 15 Selling DVd Of 2010 (US)
NUmber Nine: Michael Jackson: This It It 2,733,731 $43,726,209 1/26/2010
 
Top 15 Selling DVd Of 2010 (US)
NUmber Nine: Michael Jackson: This It It 2,733,731 $43,726,209 1/26/2010

Note: these numbers does not include Blu_Ray sales...though this is the only DVD estimation we got.,this is not 100% accurate but nice to have it.,you can easily add another 750,000 units to this number I guess with Blue-Ray + missing data.
 
so TII has sold more than 3.6 million copies all together in U.S. alone? (both DVD and BR) That's impressive isn't it?
 
^ Yes, if you include total DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the US, sales are currently 3.56 million copies. TII has also sold 2.6 million copies in Japan alone! Total global sales for TII DVD and Blu-Ray are sitting at approximately 11 million. That is a phenomenal number for a DVD and is in the Top 10 best selling DVD's in 2010 globally.
 
^ Yes, if you include total DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the US, sales are currently 3.56 million copies. TII has also sold 2.6 million copies in Japan alone! Total global sales for TII DVD and Blu-Ray are sitting at approximately 11 million. That is a phenomenal number for a DVD and is in the Top 10 best selling DVD's in 2010 globally.


WOW. That's amazing. TII will propably sell many copies too during the Christmas sale after the new album is released an MichaelMania comes.

Maybe it will sell 12 million copies all together worldwide in one year alone!

:punk::punk:
 
^ Yes, if you include total DVD and Blu-Ray sales in the US, sales are currently 3.56 million copies. TII has also sold 2.6 million copies in Japan alone! Total global sales for TII DVD and Blu-Ray are sitting at approximately 11 million. That is a phenomenal number for a DVD and is in the Top 10 best selling DVD's in 2010 globally.


Yep... This is It is #9 of best selling DVD's in 2010. #1 being Avatar.

http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/annual/2010.php


L.o.v.e.
Romi
 
The information I will be revealing comes straight from Sony. I am also combining sales for MJ's Motown albums as well. I will be including DVD sales in the figures. The numbers will reveal units SOLD, not shipped. And I will distinguish between Jackson 5, Jacksons, MJ Motown, and MJ Sony. I will not be giving a country by country breakdown, and will only include GLOBAL figures for all units sold between 1968 and 2010. You can then take these numbers which will be broken down by each album/dvd/etc and decide how many albums he sold. You can choose to include the J-5 numbers, DVD/VHS numbers, or just stick to album sales. Take it how you will.

Another interesting thing I plan on doing, is talking about future sales projections. Sony will be releasing 8 albums of material in the next 7 years as well as countless singles, DVD's, and other forms of musical releases. I will give a projection of how high MJ's sales will be by 2025 and how he will move into the Top 5 biggest selling artists in US history according to the RIAA.

SC will you open a new Thread when you do this update of sales figures? Also since you aren't doing country by country can you do it by region i.e. US/Europe/Japan etc..? Finally how close are you to compiling and releasing the info?
 
Michael Jackson: The Numbers
Exclusive Look Into The Lifetime Sales Of The King Of Pop

Source: Sony Music USA, Universal Music

As promised here are the total numbers internationally, last updated July 31st 2010. Numbers will include Jackson 5 sales but will be separated accordingly so readers can easily see MJ's solo sales plus Jackson 5 sales. Also, I will break it down with album sales, download/single sales, plus I will include ALL DVD/VHS and other forms of musical release. Remember, these are the actual recorded sales numbers by both Sony and Universal and are not inflated in anyway. There are some sales from certain countries that are very hard to track, even by Sony. So these numbers are about as close as anyone is going to get. As you can see, the initial 750,000,000 units quoted by MJ was not far off. This does not include any pirated, illegally downloaded, or fan made albums, nor does it include any unofficial releases.

THE SALES:

Jackson 5/The Jacksons

ALBUM SALES:
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5: 6,200,000
ABC: 7,500,000
Third Album: 7,150,000
Christmas Album: 4,200,000
Maybe Tomorrow: 3,900,000
Goin' Back To Indiana: 3,100,000
Greatest Hits: 6,500,000
Lookin' Through The Windows: 4,050,000
Skywriter: 3,200,000
The Jackson 5 In Japan: 1,300,000
Get It Together: 2,900,000
Dancing Machine: 3,000,000
Moving Violation: 2,200,000
The Jacksons: 6,000,000
Goin' Places: 800,000
Destiny: 3,500,000
Triumph: 3,400,000
The Jacksons Live: 2,800,000
Victory: 8,500,000
2300 Jackson St: 750,000
Jackson 5 The Ultimate Collection: 5,500,000
Jackson 5 Gold: 3,500,000
Anthology: 2,800,000
Ultimate Christmas Collection: 1,900,000
20th Century Masters: 3,000,000
Michael Jackson The Motown Years: 1,050,000
J is For Jackson 5: 700,000
Michael Jackson The Remix Suite: 1,600,000
Jackson 5 Greatest Hits: 900,000
Other: 10,800,000

Digital Downloads: 12,800,000
DVD/VHS SALES: 2,600,000
Ringtones: 1,600,000

Total Unit Sales: 129,700,000


--
Michael Jackson SOLO Album Sales:

Got To Be There: 6,000,000
Ben: 6,500,000
Music & Me: 4,800,000
Forever Michael: 4,900,000
Off The Wall: 22,100,000
Thriller: 69,800,000
Bad: 36,100,000
Dangerous: 35,200,000
HIStory: 20,900,000 (41.8 million units)
Blood On The Dance Floor: 7,000,000
20th Century Masters: 2,500,000
Invincible: 13,300,000
Number Ones: 11,900,000
The Ultimate Collection: 1,020,000 (6 million units)
The Essential: 8,900,000 (17.8 million units)
Visionary: 5,000,000
King Of Pop: 6,000,000
Hello World The Motown Solo Collection: 1,020,000
Michael Jackson The Stripped Mixes: 1,350,000
The Definitive Collection: 1,200,000
This Is It: 5,200,000
Other: 22,000,000

Total Albums: 292,690,000 or 327,290,000 if you include multiple disc albums as separate unit sales


--
Singles/Digital Downloads:

Motown/Universal Albums: 27,000,000
Off The Wall: 22,000,000
Thriller: 41,500,000
Bad: 32,800,000
Dangerous: 30,300,000
HIStory: 26,000,000
BOTDF: 2,300,000
Invincible: 6,800,000
Other: 15,000,000

Total Singles/Digital Downloads: 203,700,000


--
VHS/DVD's:

The Making Of MJ's Thriller: 9,500,000
Moonwalker: 3,500,000
Ghosts: 300,000
Number Ones: 5,600,000
The One: 1,050,000
Live In Bucharest: 2,500,000
This Is It: 11,200,000
Other: 4,000,000

Total VHS/DVD Sales: 37,650,000
*this number is set to jump over the next decade as Sony unleashes many new DVD projects including the first this November.


--
Music Video Sales:

I-Tunes: 9,500,000
Other Sources: 6,000,000

Total Music Video Sales: 15,500,000

--
Ringtones:

Total Global Ringtone Sales: 6,500,000



Total Michael Jackson Unit Sales: 590,640,000
Total Michael Jackson Unit Sales (J5 Included): 720,340,000


Keep this number in mind as we move closer to the new album and the 9 new releases slated before the end of 2017. This number will surely grow throughout the years.
 
great post thanks. but i'm wonder about the sales for "jacksons", "destiny" and "triumph". cause for me, personally, the last two are bigger. and contains more great songs. or goin' places is for me better than "jacksons"
 
Billboard 200
#97 (78) Number Ones

Top Catalog Albums
#4 (4) Number Ones

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
#50 (55) Michael Jackson's This Is It
 
Back
Top